Pages

Thursday, August 2, 2012

FEEL FULL NOT FAT

When you embark on a diet overhaul and start changing how and when you eat especially if you are eating less, but still eating enough calories to fuel your body. You may experience hunger. That is one of my biggest obstacles to overcome. When I started eating every 3-4 hours of 5-6 small meals a day I had and sometimes still have times where its been two hours since my last meal and I am famished. Here is a quick list of 10 ways to increase fullness and appetite awareness.

10 Ways to Feel Full not Fat

(1) Eat alone- Don't get me wrong I love having company over for dinner or dinning out with the gals, but eating in the midst of company or with a distraction like tv can cause you to eat more. You're less likely to be paying attention to what is going from your fork to your mouth.

(2) Smell and chew- Take note of your food's aroma and taste as this can signal satiety. Secondly, chew, chew, chew, and chew some more. Its not a race! Chewing releases hormones needed to send satiety signals to the brain.

(3) Go for food with high water content - Eat foods with high water content like vegetables. The more air and water in food the more it will fill you up calorie for calorie. Think grapes instead of raisins.

(4) Wait for fat- If you are incorporating a fat serving into your meal give it time for that feeling of fullness to come. It can take longer for the sense of satiety to come from a fat compared to protein

(5) Get your beauty sleep - When your body is deprived of sleep it produces more ghrelin and less leptin; hormones that are involved in the regulation of appetite. Leptin is a mediator of long-term regulation of energy balance, suppressing food intake and thereby inducing weight loss. Ghrelin on the other hand is a fast-acting hormone, seemingly playing a role in meal initiation.

(6) Refresh- Drink a glass or two of water before a meal. It is easy to confuse hunger with thirst especially if you are dehydrated.

(7) Get a smaller plate- It is an easy habit to fill your plate so make it smaller and ditch the clean plate club!

(8) Skip quick and easy-If you eat foods that take a little time and effort to eat there will be time for your body to recognize the fullness feeling. Think of trying hard boiled eggs, shrimp with tails, salad, any food that makes you work for your meal and slows down the eating process.

(9) Fiber up- Eat an apple before each meal. Apples help to promote a feeling of fullness and research has shown that eating an apple 20 minutes prior to eating a meal reduced the amount of food that was consumed at that meal. Try having an apple with 2 TBS of natural peanut butter as a snack.

(10) Go Clean and Green- eat food that is as closest to nature as possible and minimally processed. No Twinkies!

What are you get full tricks and tips? Leave a comment below.Until next time. Stay strong and carry on!Brooklynn